Medical student receives prestigious fellowship to research nerve injury
Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society honors Alexandra Keane
Washington University School of MedicineOne of the many honors achieved by Washington University medical student Alexandra Keane (center) was being receiving a $5,000 summer research fellowship from the Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society. She currently serves as the class president for AOA. She is shown with Morton E. Smith, MD, and Alison K. Snyder-Warwick, MD.
Alexandra Keane, who this fall will begin her second year as a medical student at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, is one of 50 recipients to receive a $5,000 summer research fellowship from the Alpha Omega Alpha National Honor Medical Society.
The Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship Award supports Keane’s research on neuromuscular junction recovery following peripheral nerve injury, which affects more than 20 million people in the U.S. and can result in weakness, loss of function or paralysis.
“We are proud of Alexandra’s accomplishment and stellar representation of Washington University School of Medicine,” said Alison K. Snyder-Warwick, MD, an assistant professor of surgery in the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and director of the Facial Nerve Institute at the university and at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. “The results of this research may have important functional benefits for patients recovering from peripheral nerve injuries.”
Keane said her research was inspired by her mentor, Snyder-Warwick, as well as other Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery physicians – including the division’s director, Susan E. Mackinnon, MD, the Sydney M. Shoenberg Jr. and Robert H. Shoenberg Professor of Surgery, who is recognized globally for pioneering techniques to treat peripheral nerve injury.
“After hearing Dr. Mackinnon give a lecture about peripheral nerve injury and surgical repair in an anatomy class, my interest and awe in this field were taken to an entirely different level,” Keane said. “The ultimate goal of the research is to improve patient treatment options and outcomes after devastating peripheral nerve injuries.”
For the fellowship, 90 medical schools submitted nominations. Only one student per school was allowed to apply.
“The competition is rather awesome,” said the School of Medicine’s Morton E. Smith, MD, professor emeritus of ophthalmology and visual sciences, associate dean emeritus and councilor for the university’s Alpha Omega Alpha chapter.
The fellowship allows Keane to spend 10 weeks focused on the research. “I am excited to acquire new laboratory techniques and concepts, and to learn about the fascinating and innovative field of plastic and reconstructive surgery,” she said.
